Not so fast: Rangel’s victory goes to court
On Tuesday, it appeared that Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) won a 22nd term to represent Harlem in Congress. His primary opponent, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat (D) conceded and the Associated Press called the race with Rangel leading by a comfortable margin.
But after additional precincts were counted, Rangel’s lead narrowed considerably (to less than three percent). Now, it appears that Espaillat is asking a court to observe the final count, casting further uncertainty on the result. Politicker reports:
Nearly three days after polls closed in the congressional race between Rep. Charlie Rangel and State Senator Adriano Espaillat, the final result still hasn’t been announced and lawyers for Mr. Espaillat are headed to State Supreme Court on Monday to seek an injunction against the City Board of Elections to be allowed to observe the ongoing vote count. On election night earlier this week, the Board of Elections released numbers that indicated Mr. Rangel had won with an insurmountable margin of victory. Since then, reports have emerged of uncounted votes and Mr. Espaillat’s supporters have called for a federal monitor to step in.
It’s not clear whether the additional votes will change the result of the race. But this appears far from over.
(Photo: Flickr, andram)
